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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28453245">the mundane kind of magic</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Procrastinating_Dragonfly/pseuds/Procrastinating_Dragonfly'>Procrastinating_Dragonfly</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>NCT (Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Magic, Confessions, Cottagecore bitches, Cursed to turn into animals, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, M/M, Mutual Pining, Seriously that's all this is, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, the whole shebang</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 22:49:31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,888</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28453245</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Procrastinating_Dragonfly/pseuds/Procrastinating_Dragonfly</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>When Renjun moves into a new place, he's only looking for some peace, and somewhere to study. He never factored in Na Jaemin.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Huang Ren Jun/Na Jaemin</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>100</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>NCTV Secret Santa 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>the mundane kind of magic</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/pyakpyaknation/gifts">pyakpyaknation</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Here's my contribution to the NCTV Secret Santa 2020! The prompt was "Cursed to turn into a dog every time they have to confess, Person A is facing double trouble after meeting Person B, a fellow magician, whom they start to grow feelings for" so naturally I made it into pure fluff. Ooops?</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Renjun stands in front of the wooden door, shifting the weight of his bags from one shoulder to the other, as if that would do anything about the straps digging into his shoulders. He’s knocked thrice already, and his roommate-to-be hasn’t deigned themselves to answer, which bodes amazingly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>For all he knows, anyway, they could be a creep. Or a very old person. Or dead. All Renjun knows about them is that they posted an announcement about needing a roommate, and that their cottage is comfortably removed from the city, but close enough to the train station to still get places. It was cheap, too, which was definitely a motivator, but Renjun </span>
  <em>
    <span>hates</span>
  </em>
  <span> people who are late, and he’s just about considering dropping out of the contract before he even signs it when the door lock finally clicks.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The door itself creaks, worn green wood on wonky fixtures, when it swings open to reveal who he’s been waiting for. On the other side, covered in pink goo Renjun can’t quite identify, stands a young boy, probably not much older than himself, panting and doubled over in exhaustion. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sorry! Sorry, I’m here, had a small shop incident, sorry! Sorry. Hi!” he gasps, groaning when he stands up straighter and something in his bones cracks. “Hi. I’m Na Jaemin,” he grins, offering a goo-covered hand.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“...Huang Renjun.” He introduces himself, shaking the clammy hand and instantly wincing in regret. Whatever that thing is, it itches. Or maybe Renjun is allergic. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Come in, come in,” Jaemin opens the door the rest of the way, motioning Renjun inside the cottage. Renjun crosses the threshold, suffocating an undeserved apology for stepping in with his boots still on, and unceremoniously dumps his bags on the hardwood floor. He’s gonna feel those straps for a while.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“This is uh, the hallway, obviously, that over there is the kitchen and that door is kind of a living room? I guess we can use it like that, right now it’s kind of the place where I dump things and where Mimi sleeps-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Mimi?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh! Yeah,” Jaemin’s grin grows fonder. “She’s my familiar. She doesn’t usually shy away from strangers, so you’ll see her pretty soon I guess. And downstairs here is the lab, uh, sorry about the mess,” he rubs the back of his head sheepishly while Renjun peeks inside the small hatch door and takes in the absolute chaos of pink that has splattered over every table, vial, and wall available. Even the poor plants. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll clean that up as soon as we’re done, I swear. Uh, there’s a garden in the back, but you can get plants for your experiments pretty much everywhere around, use anything, I don’t mind… bathroom’s actually close to my room. Oh! Right. Your room! Of course, how could you sign without-” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t need to see it.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh.” Jaemin’s face falls in disappointment, before he quickly catches himself. “That’s alright! Totally understand, sorry you had to take all the journey to here-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, uh. I actually… like the place.” </span>
  <em>
    <span>And really can’t afford anywhere else, and also really want to pet the familiar, and avoid the city,</span>
  </em>
  <span> but it’s not like Renjun needs to say any of that.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jaemin’s face immediately lights up in excitement, as he produces a crumpled piece of paper. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Just sign here, and here, and here too, and I kind of didn’t know your personal data so you can eventually fill those in, as well-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Renjun takes the offered fountain pen and signs. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It’s a mistake, and the best decision he’ll ever make, but that, he’ll come to know much, much later. </span>
</p>
<hr/><p>
  <span>Jaemin is, simultaneously, the best and worst flatmate Renjun has ever had. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The cottage is a dream. Renjun loves waking up in the morning in his little room, with the last embers still smouldering in the fireplace, buried underneath old blankets Jaemin says belonged to his grandmother - even though the birds are always too loud for him to enjoy in the moment.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jaemin is always up first, brimming with energy since the very early morning hours, rummaging in the kitchen over piles of seemingly unending food. They take turns using the laboratory, and the small room is a safe haven for Renjun, with its cool stone walls and lingering scent of incense and sage. It’s easy to get lost in his work, but whenever Jaemin knocks on the wooden hatch to remind him his time is up, Renjun feels content to rest. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>When he has lessons and needs to leave, he bikes to the station; the trains are few, empty, and far in between, but that means Renjun has plenty of time to himself to think. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>In the evening, Renjun comes to the kitchen to drink some tea; Mimi often sits in his lap, ignoring Jaemin’s pouts. Sometimes he gets to curl up just like that and read, surrounded in quiet warmth and the blinking fairy lights that hang overhead. Sometimes, they’ll get together, and play card games Renjun doesn’t really know, but somehow wins anyway. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He could get used to this place very quickly. As a matter of fact, he does.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Then there’s Jaemin. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jaemin, who keeps agreeing whenever Renjun suggests to clean up the mess in the living room, or the kitchen, or the laboratory, and apologizes sheepishly, only to do it all over again. He’s loud, he goes to bed early and wakes up even earlier, hums little tunes when he hangs the laundry in the front yard, talks to the plants in the garden as he waters them. He bakes cookies and walks across the little patch of forest to their neighbours’ to share them, goes down once a week to the town market to sell his potions and amulets, lends Renjun his bike to go to the station because he refuses to let him walk the ten minutes it takes. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jaemin, Renjun can’t quite get used to. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It takes less than a month for Renjun to realize he’s done for. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It’s not much different than any other evening. It’s raining, but Renjun doesn’t mind. The thundering downpour is oddly relaxing, numbing most every sound, and Renjun is curled up on one of the benches in the kitchen, Mimi snoozing in his lap, ratty blanket thrown over his shoulders, half-eaten brownie in his hand and cup of tea cooling on the table. Jaemin sits on the opposite bench, chattering about his daily experiments, and Renjun feels, deep in his bones, slow warmth melt at the way his eyes shine and his voice breaks in excitement. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He’s done for. He’s absolutely, utterly, done for. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I think I got the boiling time wrong- okay, I </span>
  <em>
    <span>know</span>
  </em>
  <span> I did, but it still wasn’t supposed to explode. That much at least. Or be that color. I swear I didn’t throw up on the walls, but yeah, next time I’ll probably- Hey, were the brownies bad? Why are you not finishing that?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No. No, it’s great,” Renjun mumbles, taking another bite to deliver the point. Jaemin seems content enough, and goes back to his enthusiastic alchemical consideration. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Well, he has a crush on Na Jaemin. Things will have to stay as they are, if only because of the </span>
  <em>
    <span>situation </span>
  </em>
  <span>- Renjun has already accepted that a long time ago. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Somehow, looking at Jaemin, he can already tell things won’t be that easy. </span>
</p>
<hr/><p>
  <span>Renjun’s crush on Jaemin proves to be the lesser of evils. He can live his life relatively normally - he has studies to focus on, and cookies to eat, and a garden to get lost in. The rhythm stays a comfortable one, even if sometimes Jaemin smiles a certain way and his heart stutters, or sings near Renjun, and Renjun’s stomach fills with butterflies. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The problem comes when Jaemin clearly decides he also likes Renjun. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It’s not hard at all to tell; he starts bringing back flowers from the garden, and trinkets from his trips to town. He invites Renjun to study together, and neither get absolutely anything done, because they keep getting distracted. He stutters his way through sentences when he’s still trying to hide his obvious crush, and when he decides he’s done with that, smirks and winks any time he says something slightly suggestive. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Then, one day, he just sets the tray of cookies he’d been baking on the table, and looks directly into Renjun’s eyes. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Just to make sure, you do know I like you, right? ‘Cause sometimes I think you might be oblivious to some things-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I know,” Renjun interrupts him, ears burning. Jaemin blinks, taken aback for a moment, before he nods in understanding. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So? Does it annoy you that I flirt with you?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No!” Renjun screams, shaking his head. “No, not at all.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Some rational part of his mind is still trying to comprehend that Na Jaemin just confessed. He should probably be panicking, or be flustered. In hindsight, though, this was the only way it could have gone. Everything is so comfortable with Jaemin. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“...Is there a reason for that?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Everything is comfortable, but Jaemin really likes to test him, sometimes. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah,” Renjun replies, desperately hoping he’ll take the hint.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And that would be?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He doesn’t. He just stares directly at Renjun, fake innocence all over his face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You know-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You </span>
  <em>
    <span>do</span>
  </em>
  <span> know,” Renjun insists. Jaemin’s confusion facade drops into his typical, frustrating, heart-wrenching grin. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I won’t until you say it.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“...If I say it, promise not to laugh?” </span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>“What?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Renjun closes his eyes and sighs. “Just promise.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“O-okay.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay. Yeah. Here it comes. Na Jaemin?”</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>“Yeah?” Jaemin asks, teeth sinking into his lower lip, and something in Renjun’s chest twists at the idea that he’s just as smitten as Renjun is.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Here goes nothing. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“I really like you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A second goes by. Then another one. Jaemin’s confused stare gives way to amusement, and Renjun almost convinces himself it’s all right, and maybe if he confesses to his one true love, it will be alright, or something equally as corny. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Then, there’s a </span>
  <em>
    <span>Poof!, </span>
  </em>
  <span>and Jaemin is much, much taller, and only in shades of blue and yellow, and Renjun whines, because he wants to die and because that’s the only thing he can do in this condition. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“...Renjun?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jaemin’s face goes through the seven stages of comprehension, or something, before he purses his lips tight to hold in a laugh and goes through the motions of a basic dispel. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Curse?” is the first thing he asks. He’s trying not to laugh with his entire being, but there are many things that Na Jaemin is, and actor is not one of them, and frankly, Renjun can’t blame him after he just turned into a little furry beast in the middle of his kitchen.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Teenage prank gone wrong,” Renjun mumbles. He’s pretty sure he’s blushing hot enough to spontaneously combust. “It’s not going away.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So…” Jaemin trails, lips curling into another smile. “You like me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m not doing that again,” Renjun warns, brow furrowing. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But I wanna hear it,” Jaemin pouts. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Please?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Please? Pretty please-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m not going to say-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Just once more?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I like you!” </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Poof! </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Jaemin laughs. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Awww, you’re a good boy! Look at you!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Renjun sits, turned into a </span>
  <em>
    <span>dog, </span>
  </em>
  <span>ears flattened on top of his head, and Jaemin laughs.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Huang Renjun has fallen for a bastard. Somehow he doesn’t mind. </span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>If you enjoyed the story, please consider leaving kudos or a comment! You can also find me on Twitter @lazy_libellula to chat, whenever I'm online ^^</p></blockquote></div></div>
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